Animal cage

ABSTRACT

The present invention comprises an animal cage lid which has a removable wire mesh bottom.

United States Patent Classe et al.

[ Aug. 14, 1973 ANIMAL CAGE Inventors: Anthony V. Classe, New York,N.Y.;

Robert P. Mehn, Middletown, NJ.

Assignee: Maryland Plastics Incorporated,

Federalsburg, Md.

Filed: Dec. 1, 1971 Appl. No.: 203,604

, US. Cl. 119/17 Int. Cl. A0lk 31/06, A011: 01/00 Field of Search119/15, 17, 18, 22

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,518,971 7/1970 Gass et a1.119/18 1,986,501 l/1935 Conway et 211... 3,397,676 8/1968 Barney 1 19/15Primary ExaminerHugh R. Chamblee Attorney-Norman N. Holland [57]ABSTRACT The present invention comprises an animal cage lid which has aremovable wire mesh bottom.

2 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures ANIMAL CAGE DESCRIPTION The presentinvention is directed to an improved animal cage and more particularlyto an improved animal cage which has a removable bottom wall.

Animal cages usually comprise a lower main body and an upper cage lid.In the past, the lower main body of the animal cage has been made of asolid transparent material, such as plastic, with integral and one piecebottom and side walls.

It has been found that such cages frequently become dirty and have to beperiodically cleaned. Since the bottoms of the cages are quite deep,cleaning of these cages is an involved operation. In addition, thecorners of the cages formed by the bottom and the side walls are.particularly difficult to clean because of the small space. Furthermore,such cages are necessarily put out of operation while they are beingcleaned.

One solution to this problem has been to form a cage with openings inthe bottom such as the cage shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,397,676. However,in that particular cage, the bottom is quite thick and each opening hasvertically extending side walls. It would appear that the verticallyextending side walls of the openings combined with the thick bottomwould make it even more difficult to clean because there are additionalsurfaces on which dirt can accumulate. Furthermore, it is believed thatthe bottom shown in said patent is permanently mounted in the cage sothat the entire cage must be removed from operation until the bottom iscleaned.

The present invention overcomes these drawbacks and has for one of itsobjects an improved animal cage in which the bottom is made of a meshtype construction which will not accumulate dirt.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improvedanimal cage in which the bottom is easily removed for cleaning purposes.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improvedanimal cage in which the bottom can be removed for cleaning purposeswithout the necessity of special tools.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improvedanimal cage in which the bottom is preferably made of a material thatcannot be chewed by the animal.

Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon anunderstanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, orwill be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages notreferred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employmentof the invention in practice.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes ofillustration and description and is shown in the accompanying drawingsforming a part of the specification, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the cage lid made in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a detail of the snap lock feature;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a detail showing the manner of removing the bottom;

FIG. 6 is a detail showing the bottom being removed; and

FIG. 7 is a detail showing the bottom in place.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the cage 1 comprisesintegral side and end walls which are preferably made of a plasticmaterial which is preferably. transparent. The side and end walls 2 and3 are, shown tapered inwardly in a downward direction although straightwalls may also be used if desired. The bottom edge of the walls 2 and 3is tapered inwardly for a purpose to be more fully describedhereinbelow.

A removable bottom 10 is made preferably from a wire mesh material andis adapted to permit a laboratory animal to walk thereon. The bottom 10.has, crossed wires 11 and 12 welded or otherwise held, together at theirpoints of intersection l3 and are held together by a reinforcedstrengthening frame 14 with wires 11 and 12 crisscrossing each other.The wires, 11 and 12 are preferably made of small round metal gaugematerial and do not have any appreciable depth so that accumulation ofdirt is kept at a minimum. The bulk of the dirt will fall through themesh. The wires are welded, soldered or in any other manner mounted ontothev frame 14.

Snap hooks 15 are formed at opposite edges of the, frame 14 and are inthe form of resilient curved up-. wardly biased hooks. Preferably eachsnap hook 15 is formed by a pair of wires 11 and 12. extending beyondthe frame 15 and being integral with each other.

When the bottom 10 is placed within the cage and. snapped in place, thesnap locks flex and move past the lower edge of the side and end wallsand rests therebeneath so that the bottom will not be raised. The frame14 lies on the inwardly extending lower edge 16 of the walls 11 and 12so that the bottom does not fall through. The frame 14 and lower edge 16are of such strength that the weight of the animal will not force the.bottom 10 to fall through the opening. In addition, the gauge of themesh material forming wires 11 and 12 is such that the bottom 10 will beable to support the animal. Since the bottom 10 is made of metal wiregauge material, it cannot be chewed by an animal.

When it is desired to remove the bottom, pressure is applied to thelower part of the side and end walls I] and 12 and the snap lock 15 isbent downwardly as shown in FIG. 5 until the lower edge 16 of the endwalls 11 and 12 are clear of the snap lock 15, at which point the bottomcan be raised and removed as shown in FIG. 6.

It will thus be seen that the present invention provides an improvedcage in which the bottom is made of a mesh type construction which willnot accumulate dirt, which is easily removed for cleaning purposeswithout the necessity of special tools and which the bottom ispreferably made of a material that cannot be chewed by the animal.

1. An animal cage comprising a body portion having resilient upwardlyand outwardly sloping side and end walls, a bottom removably mounted toat least some of said walls, said bottom having a plurality of openingsin close adjacency to each other, said openings extending throughout theentire area of the bottom with said openings being formed by a pluralityof intersecting metal wires, the height to said openings beingsubstantially the same as the width of the separating means forming theopenings, a frame surrounding said intersecting wires and attached tosaid wires and engaging lower portions of said walls, removable meanscomprising snap lock means to permit removal of said bottom, said snaplock means being resilient and adapted to lie beneath the lower edge ofsaid walls when the bottom is in place in the cage, said opposed snaplock means extending beyond the lower edges of the side walls toresiliently engage the same to maintain the bottom in place, said snaplock means being integral with at least some of said wires.

2. An animal cage comprising a body portion having side and end walls, abottom removably mounted to at least some of said walls, said bottomhaving a plurality of openings in close adjacency to each other, saidopenings extending throughout the entire area of the bottom with saidopenings being formed by a plurality of intersecting metal wires and theheight to said openings being substantially the same as the width of theseparating means forming the openings, a frame surrounding saidintersecting wires attached to' the wires, removable means comprisingsnap lock means, said snap lock means being resilient and adapted to liebeneath the lower edge of said walls when the bottom is in place in thecage, opposed snap locks extending from opposed edges of the frame ofthe bottom, the lower edge of the side walls extending inwardly in orderto support the frame therewithin when the bottom is in place.

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1. An animal cage comprising a body portion having resilient upwardlyand outwardly sloping side and end walls, a bottom removably mounted toat least some of said walls, said bottom having a plurality of openingsin close adjacency to each other, said openings extending throughout theentire area of the bottom with said openings being formed by a pluralityof intersecting metal wires, the height to said openings beingsubstantially the same as the width of the separating means forming theopenings, a frame surrounding said intersecting wires and attached tosaid wires and engaging lower portions of said walls, removable meanscomprising snap lock means to permit removal of said bottom, said snaplock means being resilient and adapted to lie beneath the lower edge ofsaid walls when the bottom is in place in the cage, said opposed snaplock means extending beyond the lower edges of the side walls toresiliently engage the same to maintain the bottom in place, said snaplock means being integral with at least some of said wires.
 2. An animalcage comprising a body portion having side and end walls, a bottomremovably mounted to at least some of said walls, said bottom having aplurality of openings in close adjacency to each other, said openingsextending throughout the entire area of the bottom with said openingsbeing formed by a plurality of intersecting metal wires and the heightto said openings being substantially the same as the width of theseparating means forming the openings, a frame surrounding saidintersecting wires attached to the wires, removable means comprisingsnap lock means, said snap lock means being resilient and adapted to liebeneath the lower edge of said walls when the bottom is in place in thecage, opposed snap locks extending from opposed edges of the frame ofthe bottom, the lower edge of the side walls extending inwardly in orderto support the frame therewithin when the bottom is in place.